A 13 year-old girl who ran away from her Embakasi home after her mother took away her mobile phone has been found alive and well in Mombasa.
Sheila Kagendo disappeared from her home on April 24 after she got into a disagreement with her mother who had expressed her displeasure over her excessive use of chatting app Whatsapp instead of concentrating on her studies.
The whereabouts of the Kagendo who will be sitting for her KCPE this year were reported when a street boy from Mombasa called her mother to let her know she had been spotted.
“At first I didn’t believe it and thought it was just another prank because we had been receiving too many calls from different people saying they had spotted my daughter,” Lenah Mwaniki said.
Mrs Mwaniki received another call from the same boy the following day letting her know that Kagendo had been sighted at the same spot.
The street boy said that Kagendo had a favorite spot outside a restaurant where she frequented every day before heading to the beach.
A friend to Mrs Karimi followed up on the tip and eventually made contact with Kagendo and took her to her house.
The owner of the restaurant recalled how Kagendo had approached him with a request for employment which he turned down as she was a minor.
Kagendo told her family that she ran away from home with the intent of looking for her older brother who lives in Mombasa buts she forgot to write down his phone number and could not remember it.
Before she left their house last month, she had penned a heartbreaking letter addressed to her parents and siblings.
In a message to her parents, she thanked them for raising her well but said that she can now take care of herself.
“Thank you mom and dad for raising me well, may Jehova continue to bless you,” she wrote. “But for now, I need to go. I am a big girl and I can take care of myself. Please don’t bother looking for me.”
In an apparent apology to her four other siblings, Jossie, Karimi, Chris and Veronicah, she acknowledged the pain she was causing them by walking away from them.
Her letter continued on by saying: “I love you very much. I am very sorry for what I have done. Please do not cry because I am making life difficult life for you. I am sorry. Please do not look for me, I have gone to start a new life. Bye to my friends and family.”
